Funeral ceremonies including Mass, which have been banned since March due to the COVID-19 outbreak shall be resuming as from Friday, under certain conditions which will be announced by the end of this week.

This was confirmed by Archbishop Charles Scicluna in comments to the media following a first round of talks held with Health Minister Chris Fearne and Superintendent for Public Health Charmaine Gauci.

Mgr Scicluna was accompanied by Auxiliary Bishop Joseph Galea Curmi and Gozo Bishop Mario Grech.

“We can once again bid farewell to our loved ones with a praesente cadavere funeral ceremony,” Mgr Scicluna said. 

He noted that the Church had been in constant communication with the health authorities since March, when the COVID-19 outbreak forced all religious services involving a congregation to be stopped, due to social distancing restrictions.

“This is a process of dialogue which started in March, and the possibility was discussed to resume funeral ceremonies, preferably at an open-air venue,” the archbishop said on Monday.

Conditions to be established this week

He noted that more talks would follow in the coming days in order to reach a decision by the end of this week on the “conditions and restrictions” which shall apply.

The plan is to review the situation in three weeks’ time, at which point it would be decided whether to resume regular Mass as well. However, the archbishop called for caution.

“We must observe one of the commandments, which says 'do not kill'. The Holy Eucharist is the source of all forms of health and should never be a means to jeopardise public health,” Mgr Scicluna remarked while urging caution to the faithful.

Health Minister Chris Fearne also referred to the decision during the news conference held later at Castille which was also addressed by the Prime Minister.

The conditions would be announced in due course by the Church, Fearne. These would involve the locations where funeral mass would be permitted, the maximum number of persons present and the manner in which holy communion would be administered.

First ban since 1813

Imposed by the Maltese bishops on March 12, the ongoing ban is the first such measure in over 200 years, following the bubonic plague of 1813.

In Italy, one of the worst-hit European countries by this pandemic religious services resumed as from Monday under strict conditions.

These include lowering the capacity to ensure social distancing, the use of sanitisers, wearing masks and not doing the sign of the cross so as not to avoid contact between hands and face.

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